Avr'madri
"What you and I observe in our collective present ... is Avr'madri. It translates from the Khazard'Vaari tongue to 'the valley of the kings'. An appropriate name for their ancient, long-destroyed homeworld, I should think." ~ Grand Curatrix Elena Trotskaya writes in her diary. (AC) Introduction Avr'madri is a medium-sized planet situated in the Omega Centauri globular cluster, over 15,000 light-years away from Earth. Its biggest claim to fame is as the origin world of the Khazard'Vaar species, serving as the hub of their once-great civilisation. However, it was at the epicentre of the immense destruction wrought by the Khazard'Vaari succession conflict. As a result, it is a ruined dust-world, heavily irradiated and ravaged constantly by massive, ancient psionic storms that are visible from orbit. Characteristics Avr'madri is almost the same size as Earth and is well within its parent star's Goldilocks zone, and just under 7,000 years ago, the two worlds were almost identical in classification - although the former is nearly 120 million years older. Although Avr'madri experiences little tectonic activity in comparison to, for example, Jotunheim, the enormous psystorms that tear up the planet on a regular basis are still enough to wreak untold destruction upon anything caught in their path. Perhaps fortunately for the many tomb-fortresses that cover the world's dusty surface, the storms actually seem to actively avoid them, though this is more likely due to the psychic resonations from the tombs themselves than any hypothesised consciousness. Locations , one of many such heavily-fortified monoliths lying amongst the dust of Avr'madri.]] Though time and erosion has worn away most of what remains of the once-great Khazard'Vaari empire on this paradise lost, some have stood the test of abandonment. Most obvious are the towering pyramids that house the bodies of deceased phaerons. Heavily-fortified and guarded, it will take many more millennia and weapons that humanity does not yet even possess to wear these colossal monuments to dynastic power down. The reason for these tombs being so well-defended is simple: every one contains all of a phaeron's innermost secrets and artefacts of immeasurable power. Hence, upon the death of a phaeron, it is customary for his Warmaster - the dynasty's most powerful warrior and commander of his armies - to adopt the role of Cryptkeeper and stand guard over the tomb to prevent thieves from breaking into it and stealing the sources of his master's might for their own malevolent purposes. Additional security measures in most tombs include huge mag-artillery turrets capable of breaking apart whole attacking legions in but a few volleys, and a myriad of devious traps along with hundreds of drone guards will deter those who make it past the tomb's exterior defences. Notable appearances *Avr'madri will appear in an upcoming Tale from the Frencoverse. Trivia *Avr'madri is modelled heavily upon the planet Ossus from the Star Wars franchise. Both worlds are the ancient homes of their respective galaxy's most powerful magic-users, and both were destroyed by an artificial cataclysm (Ossus being attacked by Dark Jedi Exar Kun). Category:Planets Category:Khazard'Vaari